Siegel: System offers young adults affordable coverage options

Published 3:44 pm, Friday, January 3, 2014

Phoenix College freshman Willow Kanowshy listened during an Affordable Care Act information session in October in the student union at Phoenix College, in Phoenix.

Phoenix College freshman Willow Kanowshy listened during an Affordable Care Act information session in October in the student union at Phoenix College, in Phoenix.

Photo: Mark Henle, MBO

Siegel: System offers young adults affordable coverage options

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I'm 19 years old, born and raised here in Houston. This fall, I started my first year at the University of Texas at Austin. Like thousands of other students, my first semester brought a number of new challenges: living away from home, starting my college studies, and worrying about how I could afford doing both of those things at the same time.

Fortunately, there is one less thing I have to worry about: whether or not I can afford health insurance.

Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, I can now stay on my parents' health insurance plan until I am 26. And thanks to the marketplace, my parents - who own a small business - have gotten quotes for health insurance plans that are 40 percent less than anything they've had in the past.

The biggest benefit, though, comes from the long-term security the health care law provides my family and me. While I'm in school and when I start my life as a young professional, I know many Affordable Care Act health benefits will be there for me.

For example: I'm no longer a pre-existing condition just because I'm a woman. Insurance companies will have to treat me as equals to my male classmates. While I'm amazed this is something that needs to be protected by law, I'm grateful that this important step toward gender equality is one my generation can enjoy.

Also, thanks to the Affordable Care Act, any health insurance plan I have will be required to cover women's preventive-care services, so I can stay healthy.

I don't plan on needing emergency services or hospitalizations while I'm in college, but I don't think anyone ever plans to need those things. Thanks to the law, those services are covered under my health care plan, which means even if catastrophe strikes, my family won't have to choose between paying tuition or paying an emergency room bill.

Unfortunately, many of my peers don't have health care yet. Nearly 40 percent of young adults in Texas between the ages of 18 and 34 don't have health insurance. Many will be able to get health coverage through their parents' insurance or the marketplace, but too many others will be denied health care coverage because Texas lawmakers chose to say no to Medicaid expansion.

In essence, students who are "too poor" will be the only ones left out. As someone who personally knows the benefits of having health care, I can't imagine why anyone would actively try to deny these rights and opportunities to my fellow students.

I don't know exactly what the rest of my life will be like. I have dreams I want to pursue, and I'm sure there are many dreams I haven't even thought of yet. One thing is certain, though: Whatever my future brings, I can count on quality, affordable health care to be there for me when I need it.